Thirteen candles.... a Paris and DLP Birthday extravaganza! TR updated 12/31!!

[MJAJmom]

Cool loft Paula, it's perfect for a young girl -- very trendy too. I'll bet you were just in heaven that first day at a cafe sipping a cocoa and coca cola! My luggage is usually overstuffed so I can only imagine how fun that was to drag it up the stairs! Can't wait to hear more.

[ILuvCrush]

Ok... So we left off having stopped back at our room. We were in and out ofthere in just a few minutes and then were headed off in the opposite direction we had gone last time, in an attempt to find the Tourism Office!

One of the big reasons I had changed my mind about doing an Adventures by Disney trip, was the cost. Ellie is considered an 'adult' in the States when it comes to admissions... to about everything! Well, ABD was no exception. She was priced as an adult. However... as I soon discovered, in France kids are kids til 17 (or even older!)!! Which meant that she could get in almost everywhere for FREE!!

I also found that the Tourism Office offers a Museum Pass that would cover my admission to almost all the monuments and museums we were planning to visit for a very low cost! So that was our first mission.... getting my Museum Pass! We didn't have too much trouble finding it. I bought not only my 6 day Museum Pass, but also 2 round trip metro tickets to Versailles for the following day Woohoo!!

So, pass and tickets in hand, we set off toward the river! I didn't want to do or plan too much for this first day, because I knew we would be tired and need a good nights sleep. So we were going to do a Seine River Cruise!









Now... there's just 1 river.... with 2 sides.... you would think it would have been a breeze to find the dock right? Well, not for us!! We did enjoy the views and seeing the city... but after walking what seemed to be forever (though I really doubt it was that far!!) we gave up and went to find some supper because we were STARVING!!!

We wandered up a rather busy looking boulevard (figuring that the busier it wasthe better the chance of finding food!) and eventually found a pizzaria! Perfect! We were really hungry and wanted filled up... so something familiar was the best choice!! Even though we weren't having actual french cuisine... we did eat outside in the sidewalk cafe area!! It was very cool

We had a simple cheese pizza. It was an advertised as an individual... but weonly bought one. It was HUGE!! I was so glad we didn't each get one! It was easily a 12 inch round pie! We also each got an Evian... which started Ellie's addiction to the mineral water!

After eating, we had our energy restored!! So we decided to try once again to try and find the docks! We paid the check, used the restroom, and set off back toward the river!

It turns out, we were almost there when we detoured looking for supper! And soon we saw the big sign for the Bateaux Mouches!


We got there about 30 min before the next trip, so we bought our tickets and shared a coke while we waited. Soon it was our turn. The commentary was..... Ehhh but the trip pretty nice. I liked that we could see everything at once. It was a great overview of the highlights! I didn't like the noisy Asian teens that were jumping around everywhere carrying on.. pushing and whatnot

Here's some photos I took along the way....
Don't we look tired lol!
















Continued in next post.....

[ILuvCrush]

Once we rounded Il De Cite... and headed backup the river, it became really chilly!! Eventually we got too cold so we went below into the enclosed cabins. I was so tired it was all I could do to not fall asleep! Actually, maybe I did doze off!! It was starting to get dark and the cabin was very quiet!!
I got my second wind when we came around the bend and saw the tower all lit up! Ellie was so excited! We went back up on deck and took a whole bunch of pictures and when the boat turned we switched sides and kept on taking more!













After our cruise was over... we walked back to our hotel, skipping along and excited about what we had seen and done our 1st day! We got back to our room around 9pm, got some well appreciated HOT showers, and hit the hay! We were both exhausted and slept like babies!!

We have a big day tomorrow..... Versailles!!

[wigdoutdismom]

I don't know how you kept going....
My batteries would have been dead.

Your pictures of the Eiffel Tower are so much fun! I can just feel your excitement!!!

Can't wait for more!

[2xcited2sleep]

Sounds like a great first day! Your pictures are beautiful, as always!!

[ILuvCrush]

Originally Posted by discrazy2

Hi Paula! I'm a NJ mom planning to take my family (DH, DD-15 yrs old, and DS-13 yrs old) to Paris and DLP next summer to celebrate my big b-day. Looking forward to reading about your adventure and getting ideas for our trip.

hi Diz!! So glad you are joining in! I was really suprised at some of thethings that Ellie loved.... even though I thought she'd be bored lol!

Originally Posted by Lady Lallie

I really did enjoy the pictures. I'm wondering if I can convince Marc that I should take Violet to Paris for her 13th birthday....

I'm feeling really good right now. The morning sickness at the beginning was pretty awful but now I'm good.

So happy that little Violet is making it easy on you!! Definately talk Marc into taking her somewhere super special!!

Originally Posted by jessrose18

signing on.... also doing london/paris/dlp on our own this year!

Hi Jess!! Welcome!!

Originally Posted by lilwitch646

May I have the honor of saying what an awesome mom you are? Truly! I think that's a great idea for a birthday present, and the fact that she saved for three years to go! Amazing!

I'm truly looking forward to reading your trip report. I can't wait to hear how your trip went. I hope you two enjoyed yourselves.

Welcome lilwitch!! I'm so glad you are joining in!! Thanks for the compliment I'm so glad that I did this with her! We had a wonderful time...and it really changed how we relate to each other... it really helped bridge that point, remember when you needed a little less 'mom' and a little more 'friend' and 'confidante'?? It was a perfect time!

Originally Posted by pooh'smate

Joining in. I just asked my dd (who is 6) where she would want to go if we took a trip together. Her answer was the beach at Disney World.

Welcome Pooh!! There's a little girl after my own heart!!

Originally Posted by disneykid123

I look forward to the rest of your TR!

welcome disneykid!! Thanks! i hope you enjoy it!

Originally Posted by Linda67

Lovely update and wonderful photos

Thank you Linda!!

Originally Posted by Carrie_Cat

That's because our Coca's are made with real sugar and not the HFCS that you have in the US.

If you want the same flavour I think it's the Mexican coca's that are made with real sugar if you get them in your state

Look forward to the rest

Thanks for the tip Carrie!! You're right! We have a new Pepsi product called Pepsi Throwback... and its made with sugar. And that's what it is! I just tried it this week!

Originally Posted by MJAJmom

Cool loft Paula, it's perfect for a young girl -- very trendy too. I'll bet you were just in heaven that first day at a cafe sipping a cocoa and coca cola! My luggage is usually overstuffed so I can only imagine how fun that was to drag it up the stairs! Can't wait to hear more.

Thanks Linda! Yep... it was pretty awesome!!

Originally Posted by wigdoutdismom

I don't know how you kept going....
My batteries would have been dead.

Your pictures of the Eiffel Tower are so much fun! I can just feel your excitement!!!

Can't wait for more!

My batteries were pretty dead lol! but we were so excited, the adrenalin was running pretty high!

Originally Posted by 2xcited2sleep

Sounds like a great first day! Your pictures are beautiful, as always!!

Thanks Christine!!

[MJAJmom]

Swoon! The pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night are stunning! How fabulous! What a fun cruise.

[Linda67]

What a great update

I love the photos of the Eiffel Tower

[sunny_stace]

Those pictures are amazing Paula!! If the rest of the trip is anything like day 1 it must have been tough to leave!! I can't get over how beautiful that city is! I'm really looking forward to hearing about Versailles!

[Sarah28]

Hi Paula, just caught up with your TR and I'm loving it! What an amazing birthday present, can't wait to read more!

[ILuvCrush]

Today we were going to Versailles. I didn't originally want to go our 1st day, but due to best days to visit and closure days for various museums and sites we wanted to visit, today was our best option. Versailles sits outside of Paris so we needed to take the RER to get there. Once we figured out the closest station to us that had an RER train going that way it was really quite easy. I wasn't planning to use the metro much since our hotel was so centrally located, but it turns out we used it quite a bit!

We were up and about pretty early, though not quite as early as I had hoped. (Spoiler.... oversleeping is a recurring theme on this trip! )
It was a beautiful and sunny day. It was also quite comfortable temperature-wise! We ate a couple protien bars and were on our way about 9am. I got some really lovely photos as we made our way past the Louvre to the metro station at the Orsay Museum.









I just LOVED Paris in the morning!! It was so quiet! I guess the late dinners are not too convenient for early mornings! So we walked about 10 minutes or so to the metro. We entered the station and caught our train. It was very easy, clean, and a nice ride! It took about 20 minutes or so to reachthe Versailles station, which we couldn't miss, since its the last one on the line!

We got off the Versailles station and basically followed the crowds. I had directions in my Rick Steves guidebook but it was so well marked I didn't need to refer to them.
As we approached the chateau Ellie and I were both very impressed! It was amazing! I had read that they do guided tours in English so we went to sign up. After looking around for a bit, we couldn't find the desk. So we decided to just go in anyway. We picked up our free audioguide for each of us which honestly was very well done! I'm glad we couldn't find where to sign up for the tour! We learned tons from the audios! As we explored the rooms I was amazed at the decoration and all the gold leaf and gorgeous celing paintings. Ellie liked the bedrooms and hall of mirrors the best. She decided that she could have learned to live in that kind of luxury... well except for the guilliotine part!

I hope you want to see pictures.,... cause I have hundreds!! I won't put them all here, but it was VERY hard to pick!! Please keep in mind.... that although many of the museums/sites we visited did allow photos, you could NOT use any flash or lighting. So the photos really don't do the palace justice!

Outside courtyard:














The Chapel:Check out that gold organ! and the delicate scrollwork!




Continued in the next post

[ILuvCrush]

Now for some interior photos!
First... the Sun King himself, King Louis XIV... the 'creator' of this palace!


















The glorious Hall of Mirrors!










The King's Apartment


Marie Antoinette's Bedchamber:




By the time we made it thru the more formal part of the palace it was about 11:30... and we were really hungry! We had lunch of croque monsieur at Angelica's Cafe right there in the palace. It was tasty but nothing amazing. I was expecting a much better meal... I really loved the croque monsieur at Les Chefs de Paris in Epcot. The real thing in France was not nearly as good IMHO. So even though the Epcot version obviously isn't 'authentic' I like the thick bread there much better than the thin slices we had in France.

After our lunch, we finished touring the palace. We went down some gorgeous marble stairs, and visited the areas where the 'sisters' and 'lesser princesses' lived. It was much more simplistic than the rest of the palace, but still gorgous! I thought it was much more 'livable'













Having visited the entire Palace... we returned our audioguides and headed outside to see the gardens and make our way to the Grand and Petit Trianons!



I'll be back with that installment soon! Thanks for reading!

[sunny_stace]

Wow! Those photos are simply stunning. What a gorgeous place! I agree with Ellie, I could really get used to living in the kind of luxury! As long as I got to keep my head attached to my body! Gorgeous P!

[jessrose18]

i love versailles!! thanks for the update... the gardens are my favorite

[DisneyJojo]

Hi Paula!
Jojo from Mousescrappers here! I loved reading your TR so far! (and thank you for mentioning this board!) If you were gone first to DLP in your trip, we could have saw each other! I was in DLP the 13th and 14th of September 2011! Anyway, I look forward to your next posts. It's nice to see things from another point of view! Like Paris at night! I've never seen that before. But I hardly can't go to the City any more. The urge of going to DLP and staying there is way to hard for me